The Million Dollar Way (The Bakken Oil Blog): 02/21/26

Saturday, February 21, 2026

Artemis Delayed — February 21, 2026

Locator: 50026NASA.

************************
Reminiscing

We had two tours in Bitburg Air Base back in the late 80s and early 90s, a full seven years, plus another year in the Frankfurt area. Eight years in Germany. Our two daughters spent more time in Germany than any other country growing up. Fourteen years altogether in Europe / England.

It's hard to believe that this was our "backyard" when we were stationed in Bitburg AB and Rhein Main AB. This came to mind while watching the Italian / Milano / Cortina Olympics in the Dolomites. In addition to our time at Bitburg I took the family with me to a temporary duty station at Aviano Air Base, Italy, at the apex of the Venice - Milan - Aviano triangle, for a full month in the Dolomites. Best food and scenery ever.

************************
Reminiscing, Part 2

I've probably watched as many Frank Sinatra documentaries as anyone.

Palm Springs. California.

Las Vegas. Nevada.

St. George. Utah.

The 1960s to 1970s. The Golden Age.

For someone who has spent so little time in that area, it's amazing how many times I've actually been there, including getting married in Las Vegas.

Ocean's 11.

*******************
The World's Largest Cash Piles

Link here.

Might be a nice "marker" for the archives.

AMD Has Quietly Increased Its x86 Server CPU Market Share -- It's Only Going To Get More Challenging For Intel -- February 21, 2026

Locator: 50025CHIPs.

I track chips here.

This is for my extended family members interested in investing. It is the fastest way I can get information out to my extended family members. It is not meant for the general audience. This is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here. See the blog's disclaimer.

Beth.

Read the entire thread.

Beth:

Which companies make x86 server CPUs? It's a duopoly: Intel and AMD.

Intel has the lead, but, now, according to Beth, AMD quietly increased its market share .... but there's more.

Let's ask the question. Why might AMD have increased its market share?

Follow the money.

One, AMD:

Two, Intel:

Three. Intel vs AMD: x86 server CPUs. Which company, Intel or AMD has better margins on their x86 server CPUs?

Is the x86 the workhorse of the industry?

The three types of chips (not including memory) for AI: CPUs, GPUs, and TPUs. For DPUs, see this post.

We now know the CPU story (above) and the GPU story (Nvidia). What's the TPU story? To repeat: for DPUs, see this post.

Who makes the TPUs used by the industry?

**********************************
Disclaimer
Briefly

Briefly:

I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken and I am often well out front of my headlights. I am often appropriately accused of hyperbole when it comes to the Bakken.
I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market.
I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple.
See disclaimer. This is not an investment site.
Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here. All my posts are done quickly: there will be content and typographical errors. If something appears wrong, it probably is. Feel free to fact check everything.
If anything on any of my posts is important to you, go to the source. If/when I find typographical / content errors, I will correct them.
Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken, US economy, and the US market.
I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple.
And now, Nvidia, also. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Nvidia. Nvidia is a metonym for AI and/or the sixth industrial revolution.
I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Broadcom.
Longer version here.

Saturday Night -- February 21, 2026

Locator: 50024OH-OH.

February 21, 2026 -- and the Department of Homeland Security remains unfunded. Mid-March -- first paychecks will not go out. It should be noted that FEMA is part of DHS -- on the eve of one of the biggest snowstorms to hit NYC in decades. I'm sure there are folks who feel NYC and the state can handle things just fine without FEMA.

Link here.

Get Out The Popcorn -- This Should Be Fun -- Biggest Snowstorm In A Decade? Robert F Kennedy, JR -- WTF? February 21, 2026

Locator: 50023BLIZZARD.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., suggests that "snow" can cause ADHD. He might have mixed up "snow" for "snow.” Link here.

More on RFK, Jr.: link here.

Links everywhere.

ISO-NE:

graphs. WHOLESALE PRICES.

ISO New York:

graphs. WHOLESALE PRICES.

*****************************
More

A Reminder Of USAF Aircraft Involved In US Attack On Iranian Nuclear Facilities One Year Ago -- February 21, 2026

Locator: 50022IRAN.

The B-2 vs B-1.

Focus: Black Swans -- February 21, 2026

Locator: 50021BLACKSWANS.

Focus, link here: black swans.

Updates

Later, 2:06 p.m. Central time: on January 30, 2026, I asked whether Satya Nadella's job was on the line. It would take a lot for the board to remove Nadella and I don't think his job is on the line, but once your business model -- a subscription model -- comes into question, and your most visible product -- Copilot-- appears not to be a hit among consumers, a CEO has a lot of headwinds to weather.

Original Post

AI investing:

AI: too much debt in the short term spooks investors;
AI: upsets need for security software.

AI prompt: AI investing. Somehow analysts suggest AI eliminates need for security software companies. Is that why software companies plummeted in the market this last week?

Reply:

The bigger question has become: is AI going to be a much bigger "disruptor" than previously "believed"?

Another question: does a "shoot first, ask questions later," offer some interesting investing opportunities?

By the way, here's a huge counter-argument:

folks in general do not trust AI / chatbots"
"everyone" agree AI / chatbots are somewhere between 90% ad 95% accurage
do you trust AI to find security risks?
to what extent can companies like CrowdStrike, Okta, and Cloudfare use this to their advantage?

But I think there was more to it that that.

AI prompt: Per your earlier reply, the significant decline in software and cybersecurity stocks around early-to-mid February 2026 was largely driven by investor panic over the disruptive potential of Artificial Intelligence. Separate from that, I believe, was the cocern investors have regarding Microsoft's 1) subscription model; and, 2) its poorly accepted Copilot. Your thoughts?

Reply (and it is a long reply):

AI prompt: And finally, one last question along this line: it appears to me that agentic AI may be more disruptive than previously thought. Not too long ago, the question was whether AI / agentic AI is a "bubble"? Now it appears that not only is AI / agentic AI NOT a bubble but it may be much more disruptive than previously "believed." Again, your thoughts. Looking for an AI inference reply.

Response: after three attempts to get a narrative reply from Google, I gave up. Google only provided links to articles, the old Google search method. These were the first two hits: